The present invention relates to a dispenser for rolls of material in the form of a web, such as paper, non-woven fabric, or film or foil, which dispenser comprises a housing with a withdrawal opening arranged at the bottom for the material in the form of a web, the housing having space for at least two rolls which are arranged with their centre axes lying essentially horizontally, a first space being arranged adjacent to the withdrawal opening and being intended for a roll in use position, and a second space being located above the first space and being intended for a roll in reserve position, in addition to which a retaining means is arranged so as, in a retaining position, to hold the second roll in reserve position, the retaining means being arranged so as to be freed in order to allow the reserve roll to drop down into use position when the first roll is removed.
Dispensers of this type, for example for rolls of toilet paper, are intended for two or more rolls, one roll being in use position and other rolls in reserve position, and the latter being moved into use position when the preceding roll is finished and its empty core is removed from the dispenser.
A common problem in public toilets where the paper consumption is great is that it is difficult for service personnel to manage to replenish paper before there is none left in the containers. Rolls of paper which are placed loosely in reserve are often stolen, and this solution does not work in practice. The problem is an old one, and a great many solutions have been proposed over the years. Some examples of previously known dispensers for a number of rolls of a material in the form of a web are mentioned below.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,865,295 discloses a toilet paper dispenser where the rolls are each slipped onto a wooden rod which runs in grooves in the wall of the dispenser and can be hung on a pendulum-type mechanism. On roll exchange, the user guides a lever on the pendulum-type mechanism backwards in such a way that on the one hand the core and wooden rod of the lower roll are freed and drop down into a storage space and on the other hand the roll above can drop down into use position for feeding out paper. This dispenser therefore requires separate wooden rods for suspending the rolls in the dispenser. Furthermore, the mechanism as a whole is particularly complicated.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,299,301 and U.S. Pat. No. 2,767,930 and also U.S. Pat. No. 4,203,562 likewise describe very complicated mechanisms with link arms or grooves.
CH-A-404 124 describes a somewhat simpler but still relatively complicated mechanism using levers and pendulum-type arrangements. A roll in reserve position is held in place by two opposite projecting support arms, each on its own pendulum-type arrangement, arranged on either side of the roll. The pivoting spindles of these are arranged on levers which are held in place by a roll in use position. When a roll in use position is finished and its core is taken out of the dispenser, the levers are freed and the weight of the roll in reserve position presses said support arms in a direction outwards from the inner space of the dispenser at the same time as the pivoting spindle of the pendulum-type arrangement is moved. The construction does not appear especially reliable, and there is a risk that the rolls will catch on the support arms on their way down from reserve position to use position.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,383,657 discloses a dispenser for two rolls of paper where the lower roll slides freely against the bottom of the dispenser housing and an inclined rear edge in such a way that it is advanced into feed-out position against a withdrawal opening provided with a tearing edge. The upper roll is prevented from dropping down by the upper part of a lever. On roll exchange, the user presses on the lower part of the lever, which is designed as a pressure plate. The empty core is then pressed through an opposite hole, and the stop lug at the top of the lever is moved aside in such a way that the upper roll can drop down.
EP-A-0 034 121 discloses a paper dispenser for a number of rolls arranged one above another, where the roll located in use position adjacent to the withdrawal opening rests on a rocking plate. When the roll is finished, it is possible, by pressing on a part of the rocking plate projecting from the withdrawal opening, to cause the latter to fold upwards, on the one hand the empty core being pressed out through the withdrawal opening and on the other hand a retaining device, which holds a roll in reserve position, being moved aside in such a way that the reserve roll can drop down into use position.
EP-A-0 298 931 and GB-A-2 193 703 likewise describe constructions which call for manual handling in order to bring a roll from reserve position into use position. It is common to both these mechanisms that the user inserts a hand into the inside of the container and takes hold of a lower lever arm of a two-armed lever and raises this, the upper lever arm being lifted upwards and taking the roll in reserve position upwards. The upper lever arm is short in relation to the lower, which means that the upper lever arm is, after a short pivoting movement of the lower, brought out of supporting engagement with the roll in reserve position. The roll can then drop down from reserve position into use position and bring the lower lever arm with it, which results in the upper lever arm being brought into its previous supporting position and being capable therein of supporting a new reserve roll.
Previously known constructions which call for manual handling by the user in order to bring a roll from reserve position into use position have not functioned satisfactorily in all respects. It is difficult to communicate in a sufficiently effective manner to ordinary users that a new roll can be brought into use position by inserting a hand into the dispenser and performing a special operation using a mechanism.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,839,346 describes an arrangement in which a roll in reserve position automatically drops down into use position when the empty core of a finished roll is taken out of the use position. This document discloses a dispenser for two rolls, where the reserve roll is held in place by a retaining means which is acted on by the lower roll which presses on a spring-loaded tongue. This tongue is connected firmly to an upwardly extending wire, the upper portion of which is arranged inside the side edge of a tippable stop washer for supporting it when the spring-loaded tongue is pressed in by a roll in use position. A roll in reserve position therefore rests on the stop washer. When a roll in use position is finished, and the empty core is removed, the tongue springs out and brings said wire out of engagement with the stop washer which then tips downwards and lets a roll down from the reserve position into the use position. The tongue then returns counter to the action of the spring, and the wire pivots back and lifts the stop washer into the support position, in which it can support a new reserve roll. In use position, the roll rests on two elongate rotatable rollers at the bottom of the dispenser housing.
The dispenser described in the last-mentioned publication includes a fragile mechanism which will not withstand the wear which occurs when dispensers are used in public toilets. It is also awkward and difficult to reach the empty core from the narrow withdrawal opening.
SE 512 595 describes a dispenser for a number of rolls, where a roll in use position is held in place between a casing (housing) and a spring-loaded dished plate which is provided with an edge flange running all the way round for supporting the roll in use position. Via a link arm, the dished plate controls a tippable support plate, the support plate being in a support position for supporting a reserve roll when the dished plate is loaded by a roll in use position, whereas the support plate tips for lowering a new roll from the reserve position into the use position when the empty core of the finished roll is removed from the use position and the spring is freed. The last-mentioned publication describes another embodiment where the retaining means which holds the reserve roll in place consists of a pair of support pins which form an integrated part with a holding means. The dished plate, which supports a roll in use position, is attached to said holding means which is therefore carried along when the dished plate is pivoted. The reserve roll is supported by said support pins as long as a roll or empty core is in place on the dished plate but, as soon as the empty core is removed, the dished plate, and the holding means acted on by it, will, in a manner corresponding to that described above, rock about its axis, the support pins being moved in a direction towards the rear plate and out of engagement with the reserve roll which then drops down into use position in the dished plate.
As wear is great in a public environment, the construction of the dispensers has to be robust and reliable. These requirements are especially important when these are dispensers for large, heavy rolls of paper which drop from reserve position into use position and moreover have to be handled in the dispenser.
One object of the present invention is to produce a dispenser which is more robust and operationally reliable than previously known solutions and which moreover is easier to handle.
Many demands are made of dispensers intended for a number of rolls and for a public environment, such as busy toilets.
The way in which the reserve roll is brought into active position should be both simple and obvious. The way in which the empty core of a finished roll is taken out in order to cause the reserve roll to be brought into use position should therefore be simple and obvious.
Another problem to which attention is not always paid is that it must be easy to reach the end of the material on a new roll. On a roll of paper, for example, the outermost turns are usually joined together in order that the roll can be handled before use, and it must therefore be easy to rotate the roll from the outside and to reach the roll of paper via the withdrawal opening in order to free the end of the material web of the roll.
At the same time, it is important that it is not possible to take out a roll of paper which contains a large number of turns.
There is also a need for dispensers in which the material web can be fed out simply via an operating means accessible from the outside.
Above, and below as well, reference is frequently made to paper, but it must be pointed out here that the present invention is not limited to dispensers for paper but is intended for all types of flexible material in the form of a web, such as plastic film or aluminium foil, non-woven fabric and paper.
By means of the present invention, a dispenser of the type referred to in the introduction has been produced, which is robust and operationally reliable and which moreover solves all the problems described above in connection with the description of known dispensers.
A dispenser according to the invention is characterized mainly in that a spindle end is arranged in the first space in the housing, which spindle end is displaceable in its longitudinal direction and rotatably mounted, is intended to lie in engagement with the interior of a central core of a roll in use position and is connected to an operating knob arranged outside the housing, by means of which knob the material web can be fed out of the withdrawal opening and by means of which the spindle end can be drawn out of engagement with the central core, and in that means are arranged so as to free the retaining means when the spindle end is drawn out of engagement with the central core of a roll in use position and to bring the retaining means back into retaining position when the spindle end is brought into engagement with the interior of the central core of a new roll in use position.
According to a suitable embodiment, the invention is characterized in that said means include a rocking means which is arranged around the spindle end and arranged rockably about a horizontal rocking pin extending at right angles to said spindle end, in that the upper part of the rocking means is arranged so as to be taken along in a rocking movement by the spindle end when the latter is drawn out of engagement with the central core, and in that the upper part of the rocking means is arranged so as to interact with a link mechanism which is in turn arranged so as to free the retaining means when said drawing-out of the spindle end takes place and to lock the retaining means again when the spindle end is guided into engagement with the interior of the core of a roll arranged in the use position.
According to a suitable embodiment, the invention is characterized in that the rocking means has on its lower part a locking heel which projects in the direction of a roll arranged in use position and is arranged so as to interact with a roll in use position, one edge side of the roll limiting, until the roll is virtually finished, the pivoting of the rocking means when the locking heel strikes against said edge side of the roll, and in that said locking heel is arranged so as to prevent said rocking movement and thus the drawing of the spindle end out of the core of the roll in use position until the roll is virtually finished and the locking heel has space to pass in under the virtually finished roll.
According to one embodiment, the invention is characterized in that the spindle end is arranged so as to be drawn manually out of the core of a finished roll by means of the operating knob counter to the action of a spring, the latter being arranged so as automatically to guide the spindle end into engagement with the central core of a new roll introduced into use position.
According to another embodiment, the invention is characterized in that the spindle end has a portion which, when the spindle end is drawn out, strikes against the upper part of the rocking means and takes the latter along in said rocking movement.
According to another embodiment, the invention is characterized in that the locking heel is arranged so as to be pivotable downwards from its laterally projecting state in relation to the rest of the rocking means counter to the action of a spring, as a result of which the locking heel can be pivoted aside about its pivoting pin when it is acted on by the weight of a new roll of full size dropping down into the use position, and in that the locking heel is arranged so as, by virtue of the action of said spring, to return to its projecting state and in doing so rock the rocking means back out of engagement with the link mechanism when the spindle end is guided into engagement with the interior of the central core of the roll located in use position, the retaining means being arranged so as to return to retaining position to support a new roll in reserve position.
According to another embodiment, the dispenser according to the invention is characterized in that the link mechanism includes a link arm which is pivotable about a horizontal pin, is arranged so as by its upper end to support a locking catch and to hold the retaining means in retaining position and is arranged so as, counter to the action of a spring, to be brought out of engagement with the locking catch when the rocking means takes the lower end of the link arm along in a pivoting movement when the spindle end is drawn out of a core of a finished roll.
According to a further embodiment, the invention is characterized in that the retaining means is arranged so as, counter to the action of a spring, to drop like a trapdoor under the weight of a roll in reserve position when the link arm is brought out of engagement with the locking catch and, by virtue of the action of said spring, to return to its retaining position when the roll has dropped past the retaining means.
Further features and advantages of the invention will emerge from the patent claims below and the following description.